Chapter 4:
[Warning! Shields at 4%]
Behind him, the pirates finally reacted, their ships changing course to pursue.
Their weapons fire intensifying as they realized what he was trying to do. They didn't want him reaching that planet because finding him and the item on such a large world would be far too stressful.
[Warning! Shields at 3%]
The first wisps of atmospheric particles began to streak across the viewport, thin and tenuous at first, then growing thicker as he plunged deeper into the planet.
The ship began to shudder, not from weapons fire now, but from the increasing drag of entry.
[Warning! Shields at 2%]
"Come on," Silas muttered through gritted teeth, his hands white-knuckled on the controls. "Come on, you piece of junk. Just a little further."
[Warning! Shields at 1%]
The shield generator finally gave up, the screens flickering and dying with a pathetic whine.
The ship was naked now, unprotected and hurtling towards an unknown world with nothing between him and the void but a few centimeters of hull plating.
[WAR££_£*@#!!!!]
The computer's warning dissolved into static as a proximity alarm merged with a damage report, the system finally overwhelmed by the cascade of failures. The console sparked violently, and Silas threw an arm up to protect his face.
"Damnit!!!!" He screamed, his voice echoing throughout the control room.
The last thing he heard was a shrill, piercing sound that scraped against his ears like nails on a chalkboard, which was but a feedback loop of dying systems throughout the ship, before an explosion tore through the main generator section of the ship.
The entire vessel trembled violently, a death rattle that shook Silas to his core, but just then, as if the universe had decided to grant him one final, cruel mercy, the ship entered within the stratosphere of the planet his superior had mentioned.
Rather than floating off into the vastness of space or being torn apart by the pursuing pirates, the ship began to plummet rapidly, slow at first before reaching horrifying speeds as gravity seized it in an unbreakable grip.
The descent was a nightmare accompanied by furious sounds.
The ship began to burn up upon entry, the friction with the atmospheric particles turning the hull into a screaming comet of fire.
Silas could feel the heat through the viewport, he saw as the metal of the wings began to glow with unbearable heat. If he'd been outside the ship right now, he would've long since been reduced to ashes.
The craft tore through the thick, roiling clouds surrounding the planet, the visibility dropping to zero as he was engulfed in a murky, turbulent soup of unknown composition.
As the ship grew closer to the ground, plunging through the last of the cloud cover, one would be able to see the harsh, desolate surface of the planet rushing up to meet them.
It was a slightly desolate and gloomy looking world. Jagged mountains rose in the distance, and vast, empty plains stretched out below, offering no comfort.
BOOOMMM
After so long, The ship finally crash landed onto the planet with a force that seemed to shake the very foundations of the world. It plowed through the rocky soil like a plow through earth, creating a deep, raw trench in its wake as it skidded and tumbled across the surface.
Metal screamed against stone, sparks flying in great showers as the wreckage was torn and twisted by the brutal deceleration.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of destruction, the mangled husk of what had once been a proud corporate vessel came to a stop, steam and smoke billowing off its shattered frame into the thin, cold air.
*******
"Cough! Cough!"
Astonishingly, within the wreckage of the ship, buried under a tangle of twisted metal and sparking cables, was Silas. He lay crumpled against what remained of his command chair, his body wracked with convulsive coughs as he tried to draw breath into lungs that felt like they were filled with glass.
The air here really was barely manageable judging from his reaction.
A faint, flickering, hive-patterned energy barrier surrounded him for a brief moment, before shattering into a million glittering fragments the next.
At the same time, an orb within his hand, a small, palm-sized device that had been a gift from a fellow officer years ago, crumbled to dust, its power completely expended.
Just before the ship's defenses had crumbled completely and the final impacts had torn through the hull, he'd managed to activate this lifesaving item.
He'd used this personal shield generator, to save himself from the worst of it. It had been a desperate gamble, but against all odds, it had actually worked.
"COUGH!!" Silas trembled violently before spitting out a mouthful of blood, the dark fluid splattering against the debris in front of him.
While the barrier had saved him from dying outright, absorbing the brunt of the kinetic force from the crash, it still hadn't absorbed all the damage received upon re-entry and impact.
He could feel it in every fiber of his being, the deep, bone-jarring pain of internal injuries, the sharp sting of countless cuts and abrasions, as well as the dull, throbbing ache of what were almost certainly cracked ribs. He hurt in places he didn't know he had, right now, even breathing seemed to hurt a lot.
Nevertheless, Silas couldn't care about that in the slightest. The physical pain was nothing compared to the fire that burned in his chest.
His bloodshot eyes, ringed with exhaustion and filmed with the haze of shock, were filled with a great level of coldness, a hard, glittering resolve that had been forged due to the corps heartless betrayal.
He pushed himself up on shaking arms, ignoring the protests of his battered body, and began to move.
He hurriedly scoured the ship as best he could, navigating the treacherous, tilted corridors of the wreckage.
Sparks rained down from exposed conduits, and the floor groaned ominously u
nder his weight, but he pressed on, driven by a singular purpose. He needed to reach the storage unit before the ship exploded.